Route

The B9074 is a cross-country B-road on three of the Shetland Islands.

Burra from Trondra

The road starts on the mainline of the A970 at Veensgarth and heads south through the village. A mini-roundabout is reached, where the unclassified road crossing was the original line of the A971. Our road enters open country and climbs to the southwest before descending again to reach the Loch of Tingwall.

After passing the apparently insignificant Tingwall Kirk (the mother church of Shetland), with its remarkably large car park, the road bends sharply left and runs along the west of the loch, passing a golf course en route. The road then continues along the valley to a T-junction on the Scalloway branch of the A970. There is a short multiplex west and the road then turns left to regain its number and become S2.

The stream that we have been following since Tingwall becomes a coastal inlet, the East Voe of Scalloway, almost immediately. The road runs along the eastern side of this, passing through a suburb of Scalloway. Eventually the road bends to the right to cross a narrow, modern bridge onto the island of Trondra. The road becomes S2 again and heads southwestwards across the island, where the occasional oxbow road shows the original line of the route. Trondra is surprisingly hilly and so the road keeps to the west of the hills and remains as flat as possible. The far corner of the island is soon reached and the road crosses another narrow, modern bridge onto West Burra, widening again on reaching dry land.

Now heading west, the B9074 runs through Hamnavoe and descends to the west coast and the pier. Maps show that the road does not end here, as would be logical, but climbs to end on an unclassified road at the next bend.

History

For much of its life the B9074 terminated on the A970 outside Scalloway. However, in 1971 it was significantly extended southwards across newly built bridges, across the island of Trondra and onto Burra in order to reach the fishing port of Hamnavoe. Ironically this means that the original section of the road is the worst-engineered part.